TGI Friday’s – Oak Lawn, IL

3 05 2009
  • 5420 W. 95th Street
  • Oak Lawn, IL 60435
  • (708) 422-0339
  • Website
  • Menu
TGI Fridays on 95th Street in Oak Lawn.

TGI Friday's on 95th Street in Oak Lawn.

After seeing the best basic cable clip show host perform at The Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN, we needed food.  It was a little after 10:00 by the time we left the casino and even though we were only 15 miles or so from home, taking surface streets in Chicago can take a really long time.  The neighborhood we were driving through really wasn’t a neighborhood we were wanting to stop in, so we all started talking about places to eat back in an area where J’s parents were more familiar with the options.  There were, of course, the two 24 hour family restaurants, but I think everyone was wanting something more than classic diner food.  J tried calling a couple chains to see how late they were open and didn’t have any luck until she called TGI Friday’s.

The Oak Lawn TGI Friday’s is on 95th Street in downtown Oak Lawn.  A few years ago, you would have only found houses were the building stands, but the Village board had a different vision for the area.  They made the area a TIF district and used emminent domain to get rid of the houses.  Now, a bank and Friday’s share a parking lot along the very busy commercial artery of Oak Lawn.

By the time we made it back to 95th Street, it was about twenty after eleven.  J was told on the phone they stopped taking orders at 11:45 so we actually made it with plenty of time to spare.  The business itself didn’t close until one, but I was still surprised to see so many cars in the parking lot. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Burgers, Chains, Illinois, Oak Lawn, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

The Venue – Hammond, IN

3 05 2009
  • 777 Casino Center Drive
  • Hammond, IN 46320
  • (219) 473-6060
  • Website 
The entrance to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.

The entrance to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.

I know it looks like I have a gambling problem, but really, I never spend much.  Maybe twenty bucks tops.  We just seem to be having a lot of luck lately at finding shows we want to see at casinos. 

Back in March, I stopped at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond to pick up four tickets to see Joel McHale.  J and I watch The Soup every Friday night and really like McHale’s comedy, so I thought this would be a great birthday present.  J’s mom is also a fan, so I picked up two more tickets for her and J’s step dad.

The Venue is on the second floor of the Horseshoe Casino which sits near I-90 on Indianapolis Boulevard in Hammond.   There’s a large parking structure as you come upon the complex and the elevator takes you back down to the first floor where you enter the casino.

The gaming floor is huge.  It’s not as big as Soaring Eagle, but it’s much bigger than the riverboat casino’s in the area.  It’s a large, open area with a high ceiling.  You have to go all the way to the back of the gaming floor to find the escalators that lead up to The Venue. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Entertainment Venues, Hammond, Indiana, Live Entertainment, Reviews

Whole Foods Market – Willowbrook, IL

2 05 2009
  • 201 63rd Street
  • Willowbrook, IL 60527
  • (630) 655-5000
  • Website
The Whole Foods Market on 63rd Street in Willowbrook, IL

The Whole Foods Market on 63rd Street in Willowbrook, IL

When you’re within a couple miles of a Whole Foods Market, you have to go.  Right?  That’s the case with us anyway.  We were in Willowbrook for lunch at The Chicken Basket and J said there was a Whole Foods right down the street.  It’s the store where she was first introduced to the store we’ve come to lovingly call Whole Paycheck (thanks Amy).  When we lived in Peoria, J would make the drive to her parents house quite often.  On those trips, she and her mom would run to Whole Food and stock up on pre cut fruits, veggies, and those delicious pre-made salad.

Whole Foods has a number of markets in the Chicago area.  The Willowbrook location is on 63rd Street right off of Kingery Highway (IL-83).  We actually drove by it the first time because J thought it was visible from Kingery, but we found out pretty quickly, it’s not.

The store is a stand alone and the parking lot is really tight.  Whole Foods is definitely not your typical mega mart with concrete parking lots as far as the eye can see.  There’s plenty of parking, but it’s not spread out and there’s not a lot of empty spaces.

The Willowbrook Whole Foods sets the standard for J.  She compares every Whole Foods we go in to to this one.  I actually thought the store was cramped compared to the two Ann Arbor stores, but she thinks there’s more room.  The theme of the weekend was Cinco De Mayo and there were a number of sample tables throughout the store.  It’s too bad we just came from lunch because we really could have eaten our way through. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Grocery, Illinois, Reviews, willowbrook

Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket – Willowbrook, IL

2 05 2009
  • 645 Joliet Road
  • Willowbrook, IL 60527
  • (630) 325-0780
  • Website
  • Menu
Dell Rheas Chicken Basket on old Route 66 in Willowbrook, IL

Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket on old Route 66 in Willowbrook, IL

Yup.  We hit another Chicago area Diner’s, Drive-In’s, and Dive’s place.  J and I are back in Chicago for another weekend trip.  We have tickets to a show in Hammond, IN tonight which isn’t far from her parents house.  Her mom and step-dad had a prior commitment during the day, so J and I were on our own for lunch.  I had been wanting to check out another place we saw on Triple D that was only about 20 minutes from her parents.  After they left for the morning, J and I got going and headed to Willowbrook for lunch.

Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket has been on Joliet Road in Willowbrook for almost 70 years.  Of course, in the early days, Joliet Road was Route 66.  A lot has changed since then.  Interstate 55 is in Dell Rhea’s backyard and the old Mother Road is hidden behind an office park. In fact, J is very familiar with this area.  Her high school speech team used to stay at a Holiday Inn down the road and her grandma was in an area nursing home for a few years yet she had never seen our destination.

It’s not really hard to find and there are signs from IL-83 for the out of towners like us.  The building is a classic Route 66 icon.  There’s a big neon sign out front and the decor hasn’t aged in fifty years.  Parking is a little wierd.  The spots out front are spots that are perpendicular with the building, so you take a sharp 90 degree turn off the road into a spot crossing a lane of traffic in the process. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chicken, Illinois, Local Flavor, Reviews, Sandwiches, willowbrook

The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill

1 05 2009
  • 2005 E. Michigan Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 482-6376
  • Website
  • Menu
The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill on Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill on Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

Have I mentioned that I love when J e-mails me from work and says she’s hungry for greasy bar food?  Man, I love that!  I was not in the cooking mood again as we were packing up for a trip back to Chicago.  For J’s birthday, I got her and her family tickets to see comedian Joel McHale at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN.  We were going to see McHale in Detroit back in January, but I had to work.  Since Hammond is about 15 miles from her parents south suburban home, I made up for missing the January show with four tickets to this show.

I’m starting to run out of ideas for greasy bar food, so I started looking at menus on Allmenus.com.  One of the places that came up that I never really thought about was The Green Door.  I ran it by J and she thought we would have enough time on her dinner break.

The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill is on Michigan Avenue at Clemens Avenue.  If you can find street parking along Michigan Avenue, there is a front door, but there’s also a City of Lansing lot behind the building.  If you park in back, there’s a door that leads right in to the bar on the backside of the building.

We parked in back and trekked through the alley which, like most of the streets in Lansing, has seen better days.  When we got inside, we were faced with a choice.  The Green Door is set up for live music which is really the main draw.  There are some tables in front of the stage, but there are also some higher pub tables on the other side of the room.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Lansing, Live Entertainment, Michigan, Pub, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

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